If you have to raze a building to create a national historic park, how valuable is that park? I mean, all traces of the historic event that occurred on the site long have been erased, not to mention the lay of the land.
Yet that didn't stand in the way of Michigan's congressional delegation, which wants the National Park Service to "Remember the Raisin!"
Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow along with Congressman John Dingell successfully got Congress to pass legislation directing the Park Service to study whether the River Raisin Battlefield should be labeled a national historic park.
Of course, before such a park could be created a building that once housed a paper plant needs to be razed from the site.
Never heard of the River Raisin Battlefield? Apparently it was the
site where, on January 23, 1813, Indians allied with British forces during the War of 1812
killed about 60 wounded and unarmed American soldiers.
Another Park Study Approved
Published Date
December 19, 2006
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Comments
Dear Editor Repenshek and National Parks Traveller Bloggers:
As President of the Monroe County Historical Society, based in Monroe County Michigan, I am very proud to report on the tremendous progress we have made, in concert with the State of Michigan, the City of Monroe and a broad spectrum of community organizations, in reclaiming sacred 1812 battle soil from it's most recent industrial past. The old paper mill has been, at long last, demolished and removed. With the leadership of Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Dr. William Anderson, director of Michigan's Department of History, Arts and Libraries, and our Congressman John D. Dingell, we are setting the stage for the proper preservation, commemoration and interpretation of the Battles and Massacre of the River Raisin. To assist the National Park Service study, the Monroe County Historical Society has commissioned archeologist Dr. G. Michael Pratt of Heidelberg College to chair a multidisciplinary team of historians, archeologists, and academicians to prepare a nomination of the River Raisin Battlefield as a National Historic Landmark. These team members are already intimately familiar with the site because they have been engaged in a number of extensive studies over the past ten years. All traces of the historic events have not been erased, in fact they have remained sealed under a cap of industrial concrete flooring for almost the last 100 years. Our story is a fascinating one and a tipping point in the War of 1812 for control of the Michigan territory and the Great Lakes theater. I invite you to learn more. I'm sure your will come away impressed by the national significance of the events which occurred here during the winter of 1813, and equally impressed by the tenacity and committment of our community in reclaiming, developing and celebrating our historical assets.
Respectfully submitted, William H. Braunlich